Spy
by BananaBirdNova
Summary: By BananaBird. The Autobots have discovered that there's a spy among their ranks. Will they be able to uncover his true identity?


Author's Notes: So I hope this story doesn't confuse anybody, but this is actually the end to a story I came up with a long time ago. I might one day in the distant future write the beginning of this, but for now I really just want to share the idea. All you need to know to understand what's going on is this: the Autobots have discovered that there's a Decepticon spy among them, and they think they've uncovered who it is. And as usual, I do not own anything about the transformers franchise except my own head cannon! Alrighty then, have at it!

* * *

Jazz walked the dark corridor of the brig somberly. He passed each empty cell until he reached the final one with its occupant. Mirage looked up at the sound of footfalls and brightened at the sight of the special ops commander.

"Jazz! You must believe me, I am not the spy!" Mirage implored.

The black and white just looked regretfully at the blue and white Ligier.

"Please Jazz, you've got the wrong mech! I assure you!"

Jazz finally shook his head and spoke; "'m sorry Raj, but what's done is done an' no matter what ya feel now, it won't change yer actions. An' th' evidence don't lie either." Jazz then held out his hand expectantly.

Mirage looked at the hand then back at Jazz. "Don't do this Jazz."

The Porsche, looking more severe than Mirage had ever seen him before, didn't say another word but kept his hand held out expectantly, mouth turned down in a sharp frown.

Mirage closed his mouth into a somber line and looked down. He reached up to where his Autobot insignia blazed proudly on his chest, took the corner of it, and with a painful yank wrenched it off. Without another word he placed the insignia in Jazz's waiting hand.

"I'll make sure ya get a speedy trial, Raj," Jazz said before turning and walking away.

Mirage looked after his former unit leader for a moment, then turned slowly away and stared blankly at the wall ahead of him.

o~o~o

Several days later Mirage was still staring at a blank wall, but a different one now than before. A transport shuttle had been called down to bring the "Decepticon spy" from Earth to Cybertron. Once he reached Cybertron, he would be put on trial, most likely be charged guilty for the crimes, and locked up for who knows how long, probably the rest of his life.

There hadn't been many tears shed over his arrest because most all of the Autobots believed the accusations. There had been a lot of disappointed looks though, and more than a few glares of hatred, especially from Cliffjumper whom Mirage knew had fingers itching to grab ahold of one of his subspaced guns. The worst had been the final confrontation with Optimus Prime. The Prime hadn't had much to say to Mirage except how sorry he was to have lost a good soldier, or really, what he believed to have been a good soldier.

Sitting in the shuttle's brig now, Mirage had a lot of time to think. Mostly he thought about the early days of the war. There had been a time when he hadn't known which side, Autobot or Decepticon, to choose. When he had been just a Hightower mech he had considered war beneath him, an act that only low-class grunt workers carried out. He had thought that he would live his life like always while the war played out, perhaps even make a bet or two on which side would win, and in the end when the war was over everything would carry on like normal. But he had been so wrong to think in such a way, and when the war finally reached him and the time came to pick a side, Mirage truly hadn't known which side was the good and which was the bad, and even so which was best for Cybertron. True, before he had finally pledged allegiance to the Autobots, Mirage had participated in some under the table dealings with the Decepticons, but once he had chosen his side there had been no wavering. Once he became an Autobot he stayed an Autobot and ultimately became a spy for Optimus Prime himself.

So despite all the uncertainties in his past there was one thing Mirage knew right now at this moment, and it was that he was _not _a Decepticon double-agent. He had been set up and falsely accused. And what this meant was that the real Decepticon spy was still active in the Ark, and nobody knew about it except himself and the traitor. Thus he felt personally responsible in figuring out who this traitor actually was. He would figure it out and during his trial he would stand tall and accuse the mech of his crimes. Even if nobody believed him, at least the name would be out there, put in the trial records, and the idea would hopefully be planted in the mind of _someone_ who might one day uncover the truth.

But now came the hardest part of the plan, figuring out _who_ could possibly be the traitor. Having held his position as a spy with the unique ability to turn invisible, Mirage had been granted the position of the optics and audios of the Ark since he became a member of the crew, and it would have normally been his job to sniff out any possible signs of treachery among the ranks. As a result he knew the shadier sides of most of his friends that few others knew of. He had attempted to do a little undercover work back at the Ark when word came out that there was a Decepticon spy among them, but to be honest the situation hadn't been that real at the time. He hadn't known all the details of the situation and he'd been waiting for something to happen that might point him in the right direction to begin the investigation. But now it was too late to personally investigate and he was left with only his mind.

Before his accusation, many rumors had floated around the Ark. Many names had been whispered in the corners of the hallways, but most of them had been wild guesses. Mirage had to start at the beginning and work his way up. So that's what he did, he went over each and every Autobot who resided in the Ark and took into account the possibilities each had in being the traitor. He started at what he considered the likeliest of candidates, and worked all the way up to the Prime himself. There were some names that he discredited immediately, and some who he held on to for further analysis.

It was hard. Being a gambler he could easily figure out the odds of winning or losing a bet in most situations, and he was usually okay with losing because that's all part of the game and he never really had much to lose anyway, but this time was different. Mirage was truly afraid of accusing the wrong mech because he didn't want any of his friends or comrades to get caught up in the same situation he found himself in now unless said accused was the real spy. And the odds of him actually uncovering the real traitor were very small, he knew. No matter how hard it was going to be though, if he does end up accusing somebody, he needs to make sure he gets the name right the first time around, because he isn't getting a second chance.

Time wore on and as the transport shuttle neared Cybertronian air space, Mirage felt that he was no closer to figuring out the truth than before. He mulled the possible names over in his processor so many times that eventually they all started to mingle together and all the possible traits that might indicate treachery blended together and became obsolete. Mirage sighed and rested his helm against his cell wall. He just couldn't do it. All of his years of training and time spent as part of the special operations unit, and for the life of him he couldn't weed out one spy amongst his friends. There just wasn't enough evidence.

This Decepticon must be really good at his job. Obviously he had been hiding under Optimus Prime's very nose for years. After all, he was (and is still) part of the main crew that crash landed on Earth millions of years ago. Which meant Optimus wasn't the only mech that had been fooled, but also Jazz, Prowl, Red Alert, Bumblebee, himself... everybody. How could this have happened? This mech must be the expert at hiding his true colors and relaying sensitive information back to Megatron, let alone acquiring said information without being detected.

Suddenly a name popped into Mirage's head and it seemed so absurd that he wanted to brush it away immediately. But seeing as he didn't have any more leads and was running out of time, he considered it and took into account the possibility. The more and more he thought about it the more and more it made sense. He had thought that one of the officers might be the traitor before, but hadn't been able to bring himself to accuse one of his superiors. But it all made sense now, it made _perfect sense!_ It was horrifying to think about it, but all the pieces fell into place, and suddenly Mirage realized how dangerous the situation was, how much danger his friends on Earth were in, how much danger _he_ was in right now.

Mirage leapt to his feet, the shuttle had reached Cybertronian air space and he feared what might happen when they finally landed.

_I'll make sure ya get a speedy trial, Raj._

"Guard! _GUARD_!" Mirage shouted. The mech guarding the brig stiffly ignored the prisoner. Mirage stupidly tried to grab hold of the energy bars that kept him in his cell and was rewarding with a painful zap to the hands.

"Listen to me! I have to speak to your superiors, now!" Mirage implored.

The guard finally turned and sneered at Mirage. "You don't get to talk to anybody until your trial, traitor," the mech responded.

"No, you don't understand, I know who the real spy is!" Mirage said.

"Ha, yeah right. Don't even try and pull that on me," the guard laughed.

"You don't _understand!_ The Decepticon, his name is . . ."

**THWA-BOOM!**

A massive explosion rocked the ship. Before Mirage could get that critical name out he was flung off his feet. The energy bars barricading him in the cell flickered offline as the guard picked himself up and ran out of the brig.

**CRACK-THOOM!**

Mirage tried to escape his cell but the second explosion ripped open the side of the ship to his right and a wall of shrapnel and flame beat him to it. Mirage felt the blast from the heat and the searing pain as chunks of sharp metal ripped into his armor, and then everything went black.

o~o~o

_~Earth: one day ago~_

Footsteps echoed down the corridors of the Nemesis. The owner of the feet held a jaunty gait that seemed to fall naturally into his stride, but there was a certain click to his stroll that seemed to imply the mech was particularly pleased about something. Most Decepticons he passed got out of his way, but not without a glower of either hatred, mistrust, or both. Just about all of the glares at some point turned to the red Autobot insignia blazing from the bot's blue and white chest, but this didn't seem to bother the jovial mech in the slightest.

Eventually the mech reached the doors that lead to the main command center, but a certain red, white, and blue seeker was blocking his way. The mech slowed to a stop but gave the seeker a lopsided grin that wasn't entirely friendly. "What's up Screamer?" he asked.

Starscream didn't answer the question but instead cut right to the chase. "We all thought you had been found out and shuttled off to Cybertron for a life behind bars."

"Aw, ya really thought I'd let myself get found out? Didn't know you guys had so much faith 'n me," the mech responded sarcastically.

Starscream frowned a bit but continued as if the mech hadn't said anything. "I'm eager to hear how you managed to slip out of _this_ little bit of trouble. If you don't mind I would be honored to be the first to hear all the _juicy details_."

The mech tilted his helm forward without losing the mostly friendly smile, successfully acquiring a look of warning that was borderline intimidating. "Now Screamer, ya know there's only one mech I report to an' it ain't Optimus Prime an' it certainly ain't you. Now if ya don't mind . . ." the mech didn't finish his sentence by gestured to the side instead, implying Starscream get out of his way.

Starscream's expression turned into a full out scowl, but he eventually slunk away into the shadows.

"Thank ya kindly," said the mech as he strolled into the command center.

As the mech entered the room he passed Soundwave dutifully typing away at a computer screen. The mech cheerily bumped the communications officer in the shoulder with his fist, "Soundwave my mech, what's shakin'?"

Soundwave didn't respond.

Unfazed, the newcomer strolled effortlessly up to the high backed chair where Megatron himself waited.

"Well, if it isn't my faithful double-agent. To be honest I didn't think you would have gotten yourself out of this one," Megatron said as the mech approached.

The Decepticon spy gave another lopsided grin. "Ya know it's gonna take a lot more than what th' Autobots can dish out t' uncover me," he said.

"I would hope so," Megatron said scathingly. "I'm disappointed you even let yourself be detected."

The spy's grin dissipated into a slightly irritated smirk. "Don't worry yoreself 'bout any o' that. As ya know I was able t' plant th' evidence on another mech."

"And how did all of that turn out?" Megatron asked lazily.

A mischievous grin lite up the spy's face again. He pulled something out of subspace and let the object clank to the floor. It was Mirage's Autobot insignia. "They're shippin' ol' Mirage off t' Cybertron t' stand trial as we speak. And speakin' o' which, I have a bit of a favor t' ask."

"Oh . . .?" Megatron drolled as he stared at the offending insignia on the floor.

"Mirage ain't a dumb mech, and I fear he might figure out my true colors at some point in th' near future. If ya could organize a . . . Decepticon welcoming party when his shuttle reaches Cybertronian air space, tha'd be dandy."

Megatron stared at the spy in front of him for a moment before waving his hand absentmindedly. "Very well, but keep in mind it would be the same for you if you were up there right now. Allow any more slip ups like this one and I assure you, you will be nothing more than a scorch mark on the floor the next time we meet, understood?"

"Perfectly," the mech responded.

"Now I am sure the Autobots are missing you right now, can't _blow your cover_, now can we? You are dismissed Jazz."

"As ya command, Lord Megatron," said Jazz as he bowed with a wicked grin. The Porsche left the command center with the same gait he had entered with, punching Soundwave playfully in the shoulder again as he exited.

* * *

Author's Notes: Aaaaaww snap! I must say that this is a one-shot idea for me, and Jazz is not an evil spy in any of my other stories unless I explicitly say so. Once again, I may or may not write the rest of this story in the future, but hopefully what's here was enough to explain what happened leading up to these events. Thank you for reading!

UPDATE: Hey you guys, if you liked this story, go over and hop onto the account I share with my friend Nova (she's the Nova in the whole BananaBirdNova deal ;) ) and read her story: "Spy Aftermath". It's her sequel to this and she explains what happens after the events of this story. It's awesome, go read it!


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